It became clear that we all vividly remembered certain scenes, passages and descriptions that we could relate to. Whilst some enjoyed the challenge more than others it became obvious during the discussion that we had all experienced strong and diverse emotions words used by the group when describing their reactions to the text included ‘heart-breaking, angry, healing, humorous, moving, thought-provoking, realistic, offensive, beautiful, melancholy, hopeful’. We all admitted to feeling challenged by Crow’s use of onomatopoeic, archaic, crude and disjointed words and the way the narrative jumped backwards and forwards in time. The first thing we all realised is that this was not going to be an easy read, despite the shortness of the text, this was no straightforward narrative of events. These voices are as very different in tone and moods of the different sections are starkly contrasted the text sometimes reads as poetry and includes lists and ridiculous comprehension questions. The story is narrated in a non-linear way, the voices of Crow, Dad and Boys triangulate throughout most of the book to present scenes, thoughts and stories through intricate, diverse voices which alternate. The family is visited by Crow, an unsettling presence, come to help them through their grief and despair. Porter’s debut novel describes the life of a man and his two young boys who have recently lost their wife and mother. RAD Book Club met last Tuesday to discuss Grief is the Thing with Feathers, the first novel by London based publisher Max Porter. RAD Book Club review: Grief is the Thing with Feathers Quality assurance, enhancement & compliance.Pathway to RAD Registered Teacher Status (RTS).Professional Dancers’ Postgraduate Teaching Certificate.Master of Arts in Education (Dance Teaching).

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Grief is the thing with feathers book